Monarch Butterfly
by wunderlande
Summary: Butters goes out to hunt for butterflies, and unbeknownst to him, Kenny also goes out to hunt for his own little butterfly.


Another fluffy oneshot here. Started it yesterday and finished it today, all while my other unfinished oneshots that I've had for months. |:D

Anyways, ignoring my failure, I just thought about how cute it would be to have Butters hunting for butterflies and then Kenny would join him and so much fun would happen, so I came up with this.

I hope you enjoy this cavity giving story.

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><p>Monarch Butterfly<p>

"Oh hamburgers."

Butters frowned as another butterfly escaped from the swing of his net. He lifted the instrument up as the insect settled down on nearby flowers. He swung down, capturing the fluttering thing before it flew away. Butter jumped in joy and took hold of the mesh net, attempting not to damage the butterfly's beautiful orange-and-black wings.

Butters reached with one hand into the net and cupped the butterfly against the side of the net. Using a gentle hand – but of course, this was Butters, the forever-gentle boy – he gripped the black body and held only hard enough so it did not escape. The light-blond-haired boy smiled as he pulled it out of the netting, only to frown again when he took a closer look.

Alas, a case of Müllerian mimicry had tricked him. In his pale hands was not the well-known Monarch butterfly, but a cheap and beautiful copy of a simple Viceroy butterfly. The tell-tale vertical line on its hind wings gave the end of the story away.

Butters sighed as he released the Viceroy and watched it for a while as it floated off in the sky. He wondered if he would ever get his Monarch. Though popular and populous, the orange-and-black creature was not in his collection yet. He thought it was strange to not have it and strange to notice that he did not have it until a few days ago.

He was reminded in art class when the class was painting. He was painting a nighttime vision of New York's Time Square when he thought that the sky would be better black and blue. He had walked to the paint can station and turned to return to his seat when he tripped on an empty can left on the floor. Being opened, black paint spilled in the air and onto the person in front, which just so happened to be the orange-clad Kenny. The orange jacket and the black paint made him realise about his missing Monarch butterfly.

Kenny hadn't been too angry with Butters; in fact, he laughed it off and hugged the smaller boy, spreading paint all over the place. Butters smiled as he remembered the warmth of the hug. He sort of wished for it again, just once. But he pushed away the smile and picked up his net. He wanted his butterfly, and he wanted it today. He set out deeper in the green forest.

Butters' shoes crunched the forest floor as branches scratched his face. It was all work to find butterflies, especially specific ones. He held his net tightly to his body as he heard a crunch that was not his. Blue eyes shot around the trees and green leaves. Sweat dripped from his hairline to his chin as the fear and humidity made him heat up. Breathing quickly, Butter advanced forwards, only to hear another crunching sound. It grew sounder as the cause moved closer. When he thought it was close enough, Butters swung his net out to attack.

"Ey! The fuck!"

The creature grabbed Butters' net and pulled it down.

"Kenny!"

The taller blond rubbed his nose where Butter sensed the metal ring had hit him. He was still dressed in his orange and black jacket. He couldn't afford laundry services as of yet, but then again, he couldn't have cared less. It was his favourite jacket, and he was not about to let a few lines of paint bother him.

"Geesh, Butters, can you swing hard."

Butters took his net back and cradled it like a baby. He was slightly worried about Kenny's disheveled look. Blond hair stuck to his forehead by sweat and he pushed it back before speaking.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kenny. You just scared me."

Kenny leaned back on a tree, uncaring to the tree bark itching him. He was no better looking than Butters. Cuts marked his face, probably made when he had tripped on a stupid decaying long on the ground. His hands were covered in dirt and mud, the same for his clothes and shoes. His jeans were wrinkled and small tears littered the sides. Kenny also had dark circles under his own blue eyes, along with red cheeks and a bruised nose. No, he was worse looking than Butters who was actually pretty clean for being in a filthy forest for a few hours.

The two boys stared at each other's dirtiness and glanced around a couple of times. The silence was broken when a question piqued Butters' mind.

"So, um, Kenny?"

"Yes?"

Butters bit his bottom lip, not sure if this would break privacy rules or not. "What are you doing here anyways?"

Most normal people did not explore the forest, or even outside of their rooms, for that matter. Butters had a reason with his butterfly hunting and collecting, although, no-one actually knew about it. Butters had opted to keep it a secret from everyone at school, and definitely Cartman was not to find out. He did not want others bothering him about it, either teasing the boy, or asking him questions about butterflies and how he knew so much about them. In reality, Butters would have ached to let the latter happen, but he knew teasing was much more plausible. He wondered if perhaps Kenny would find this collecting a bit strange as Butter did himself. He thought it more of an obsession than any kind of hobby or fun activity. He guessed that he just wanted to gather up beautiful and delicate things just because.

"Oh," Kenny seemed nervous, "I, uh, wanted to get some peace and quiet around here, you know?" He rubbed the back of his head, hoping Butter would believe that oh-so-obvious lie. Kenny breathed a mental sigh of relief when he had.

"Oh, okay then." Butter had never thought that Kenny, of all people, would lie to him, so he wondered why the elder blond did. He did not mind; Butters was sure Kenny had a good reason. It would be unusual to doubt him completely.

"So, what are you doing, Butters?"

Should he tell him? Butters worried about the teasing, but soon saw that Kenny would not be the type to do so. Giving all his truth to him, Butters cleared his throat and stood straighter.

"I'm butterfly hunting," he paused, then continued, "For my collection."

Butter winced at the silence given to him. Obviously, he had made a mistake in telling Kenny. The 'popular people' of course would never fully understand what went on in Butters' mind. He set the net down against his thighs and looked at the ground. He saw tiny ants crawling around with leaves and crumbs on their backs. Twigs and broken pinecone pieces scattered around his feet and made him feel dirty and grimy, like he was in a whole different world. He wanted to be somewhere else, but reality grabbed his shirt and ushered him back in.

"Really? That's awesome!" A grin stitched itself to Kenny's face as he moved closer to his companion-in-the-forest. "I've always want to collect butterflies too, and, and pin them in a box and stick it up in my office, you know if I had one 'cause I don't, but if I did," Kenny's excitement made him stumble on his words. He grabbed Butters and hugged the confused boy. "God, you're incredible, Butters!"

Said boy blushed from the warmth of the embrace. "Well, geesh, Kenny, thank you." Butters could not deny that he wanted the hug and thoroughly enjoyed it as much as he could. He was disappointed when Kenny let him go.

"So, I'll help you with this hunting, and we'll rule the world with our hoard of butterflies!" Kenny had both hands on his hips and one foot on a tree trunk. He had the grin of century on, and Butter could not help but giggle.

He had never seen Kenny so full of happiness and joy before. It was contagious.

Kenny turned his head to face Butters. "So, what kind of butterflies are we looking for?" He gave a sheepish half-smile and stepped off his 'throne.'

Butter giggled again at Kenny's embarrassment. "I'm trying to find a Monarch butterfly, Kenny. Those, those orange and black ones."

"I love those!" Kenny grabbed Butters' hand and pulled him off to hunt the little beauties that made Butters so sad. Kenny swore that he would find one for his fellow friend and would search until the end of time to capture the slippery insect.

Together the boys climbed over logs, knocked over ant hills, slapped away mosquitoes and kicked away pinecones, but they could not find their orange-and-black goal. More did their sweat stick to them and more did their shirts stick to them as they travelled farther in the forest. The late morning sun shined above them, and they covered their eyes from the fierce and intense rays of pure fire and heat. Both stomachs had growled at least more than twice in twenty minutes and mouths were parched and aching for a little drop of cool, refreshing water. Their heavy feet stomped on the ground, making shoeprints while gophers ran away into their tunnels. Like Butters had said, butterfly hunting was all work.

Kenny leaned against a tree and sighed as he wiped his forehead with his hand. He was surprised Butters could go through all this just for butterflies. But he knew what people said: food taste better when you work for it. Only butterflies were not food, and he had no idea how it could be any better, but he was glad he was spending time with his cute little Butters. He sighed again and looked over to his right. He was startled to see an orange-and-black butterfly by his face.

"Uh…" Kenny slowly lifted a hand to catch it, but quickly, it flapped those wings and flew off. Kenny, determined not to let it get away, chased after it with full force.

"Kenny, where are you going?" Butters grew worried as he heard no reply. Holding his net firmly, he ran after Kenny, hoping he would not lose the boy's trail.

The tall boy leaped like a frog over tree trunks, logs, and a few fallen trees. He was not going to disappoint anyone today, especially not Butters. He stopped in an open field and saw the butterfly land and a tiny white flower, its wings settling into one. He crept up to it, and, using the techniques Butter had taught him, he pinched the black body and grinned.

"Yes!"

Kenny took a closer look at the wonderful, magical wings, awing in the beauty. He looked over to Butters as the tired boy entered the field.

"I caught it, Butters, I caught it!" He held it out for the blond to see.

Butters gleamed in excitement as he neared Kenny's outstretched hand with the orange-and-black Monarch between the index finger and thumb. His excitement dimmed as he saw the vertical line on the hind wings again. "Oh, Kenny, this isn't it." He pointed to the line. "See this vertical line here? Monarchs don't have these. I'm really sorry, but this is a Viceroy butterfly." He felt terrible at Kenny's surprise and depression.

"God-damn it. And I thought I got it for you. God-damn it." He released the insect and did not watch it go into the afternoon air.

Butters shook his head, his blond hair whipping his face. "I did the same thing too, Kenny. It's okay! Don't feel bad…" he faded as he felt blood rush to his cheeks.

Kenny smiled and laughed. He embraced the blushing blond. "Butters, you are so God-damn adorable." He was very thankful for Butters' attempt to make him feel better, and he had to day that the attempt worked.

Butters blushed even more as he melted into the hug. Sweat was dripping from his chin, but he welcomed the warmth Kenny gave him.

The two continued their fruitless hunt and come up empty-handed in the middle of the afternoon. They had hunted high and low. They tracked over creeks and hills. They had frightened a few birds with their cries of hunger and pain. They had their fingers made into a landing zone for red ladybugs and a temporary home for grey roly polies. They had seen many other butterflies of blue, red, yellow, and green, but their orange-and-black butterfly had disappeared into the blue sky forever. It seemed like Butter would never get that butterfly.

Butters sat down in the green grass in the open field and sighed. He was tired and sad that he did not reach his goal of getting his butterfly in his collection.

Kenny came from the edge of the forest and sat down behind him, pulling Butters closer to him.

Butters blushed as Kenny hugged his waist and placed his sore head on his shoulder. He blushed again as Kenny soon feel asleep without saying a single word. Then, he smiled and snuggled into Kenny's warm body.

Clad in orange-and-black, Kenny would be his Monarch butterfly instead.


End file.
